100 
WILLIS AND GARDINER : BOTANY 
A littoral species, common on the coasts of Ceylon and 
India. 
Pancratium, L, 
zeylanicum, L. ; Wal-lunu, S. 
Wiligili in Suvadiva, Gardiner ! In damp jungle near the 
village of Wiligili ; seen also in Kondai and Gaddu in the 
same atoll. — -J. S. G. 
Common in grassy places in Tropical Asia. Minikoi, Prain. 
sp. ? 
Didi, 11, native name Gul-hajaru, and Didi, 113 (Nargis 
M.), appear to be fragments of spp. of Pancratium. 
(Agave vivipara, L. ; cultivated in Anderut and Kiltan, 
Laccadives.) 
Taccacece. 
Tacca, Forst. 
pinnatifida, Forst. ; Hitala, Hittala,* Heith-thala, M. ; 
Garandi-kidaran, S. ; Arrowroot. 
I. Didi, 57 ! Goifurfehendu Atoll, Hulule 15, Gardiner ! 
Common in the whole Archipelago. The roots are scraped 
and daily washed and dried in the sun for a week. They are 
also used for poultices with chillies and cocoanut. They 
form one of the staple foods of the natives against famine. 
It is nowhere cultivated, but grows wild in nearly every island 
in the group of any size. The near proximity of coral rock 
is almost essential for its proper growth. 
A littoral species, cultivated in Tropical Asia and Polynesia. 
Probably sea-borne to the Maldives. Cultivated in the 
Laccadives, in Anderut, Chitlac, and Akati, Prain. Also in 
Minikoi, Prain, Gardiner. 
DIOSCOREACEÆ. 
DiosCOREA, L. ; the Yam.* 
PENTAPHYLL A, L. ; Kattella, M. ; Katawala, S. ; Yam. 
* Trimen gives Hittala as the Maldivian name for the Dioscorea yams, 
his informant evidently describing Tacca as a “ yam.” 
